The Failure of Pragmatism and Baby Steps

There are so many lies and misconceptions about the pro life and abortion abolition movements. I’m sure that you’ve heard them: Pro-lifers hate women and want them to die in alleys where they’ll have to go to get abortions with coat hangers. They’re against a woman’s right to “reproductive health,” whatever that’s supposed to mean. We want to pass law after law after law, chipping away at this so called “right” until one day, it just doesn’t exist anymore.

That last one is what I want to address. That particular misconception is one propagated by some of the pro-lifers themselves. The supposed intent is to take baby steps towards regulating the abortion industry out of existence. The reality is that these baby steps often do more harm than good.

Take, for example, parental notification laws. Notice that they’re not called “Parental Consent” laws. That’s a big concession to the abortionists in and of itself. The very name surrenders the rights of parents to the imagined right to “reproductive health.” Parents aren’t asked if their 13 year old daughter, who the government tells us is not mature enough to drive, get a tattoo or see an R rated movie without parental consent, can get an abortion, which has far more dangerous and permanent consequences. No, the parents are told that their child will get an abortion, whether they approve or not. There are often so many loopholes in these notification laws that the law is rendered meaningless, anyway. Often, the parents can’t be notified in cases of rape or incest. The judicial bypass clauses alone can be enough to invalidate any good that the bill may contain, which is negligible at best. A school counselor or Planned Parenthood thug can simply take a young girl before a judge that they know supports abortion who will decide that the girl is mature enough, or well enough informed to make the decision herself. The judge may decide that the “notification of the parent or guardian is not in the best interest” of the young girl, who these bills refer to as a woman.

The effects of the “chipping away” actions is that self described pro life folks get to claim that progress is being made on the issue and feel good about their efforts, while placating pro-lifers. When such bills are widely supported by pro-abortion politicians like former Washington State Attorney General Rob McKenna that should be a red flag. The real implication of bills such as these is this: We Surrender. When bills like this pass and get labeled as “ pro life legislation,” we’re admitting that abortion is a right and should be legal. Not to mention that these bills are so ineffective at curtailing abortion that more and more laws need to be passed to maintain the appearance of pro life action.

A far better and simpler approach is to introduce and pass one bill that doesn’t create new law; rather it correctly defines two simple words: Human Being. Representative Jason Overstreet of Washington State’s 42nd Legislative District has introduced such a bill. It is House Bill 1259. It’s sponsored by his fellow Freedom Agenda team members Rep. Matthew Shea, Rep. David Taylor, Rep. Cary Condotta and Rep. Elizabeth Scott, among others. The correct and irrefutable definition of the word “human” simply mandates that all innocent life be treated the same. This simple bill corrects the false understanding that abolishing abortion is a complicated matter that requires copious amounts of new law. It tells the world “We are not attempting to create new laws, we just want the current laws against murder applied to all people.” When we recognize that all human beings, born and unborn, are created equal and are endowed by God with the same unalienable rights, there will be no need to even use the word “abortion.” Instead, we will simply say “murder” and call abortionists what they truly are, murderers.

The end of this piece comes with some homework. If you live in Washington State, please contact your legislators and demand that they stand with Representative Overstreet and support House Bill 1259. After you do that, Washingtonians, call one or more of the sponsoring Representatives of HB 1259 and thank them for giving a voice to the voiceless, the millions of unborn humans whose natural, God given right to life is currently unrecognized by our government.

If you live outside of Washington State, do a little research to find out if there are any legislators in your state who are introducing similar legislation and help them support it in any way that you can. Also, keep your eyes open for deceptive “ pro life” legislation that does nothing to further the goal of abortion abolition.

It might also be good to connect with others who are working for the goal of abolition. There might be an Abolitionist Society in your area, and if there isn’t you could consider starting one.

Lastly, I would ask that you pray. Pray for the Statesmen and Women in your legislature, they need it. Pray that our nation would repent for the evil that we’ve committed though abortion. Pray as if lives depend on it, because they do.